The format changes in many versions but the most common version has three rounds: auditions (or preliminaries), semi-finals and the final. Some countries do not have semi-finals while others have a round in between the auditions and semi-finals.
In some versions of the show, such as the Champions version, the auditions are replaced with "preliminaries". In these rounds, the judges or audience vote to pick one (sometimes two) contestant(s) from the preliminary to go into the final. The final consists of the winners of each preliminary.
